burgess



(Ne Model.) 2 SheetsP-Sheet 1. A BURGESS MAGAZINE FIREARM.

Patented July 5,1892.

I ll 1 3 IIVVENTOR WITNESSES:

(No Model.)

- '2 Sheets-Sheet 2. A. BURGESS.

MAGAZINE FIREARM. No. 478,221. Patented July 5, 1892',

WITNESSES: m/mmn My WV www v Unites States FATENT TFICEQ ANDREV BURGESS,OF OVVEGO, NEXV YORK.

SPECIFICATION formin'gi part of Letters Patent No. 478,221, dated July5", 1892.

Application filed September 6, 1887. Serial No. 248,987. (N model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, ANDREW BURGESS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Owego, in the county of Tioga and State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Magazine-Firearms; and Ido declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description ofthe invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, and to the figures of reference marked thereon,which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to breech-loadin g and magazine firearms, havingfor its object safety and ease of manipulation; and it consists ofvarious arrangements of breech and breechoperating mechanism andcombinations of parts hereinafter more fully illustrated and described.

In the drawings, Figure 1 shows a longitudinal section in elevation ofthe breech of this arm. Fig. 2 is a side view of the breechpiece. Fig. 3is a longitudinal section of the butt, showing arrangement of theautomatic breech-operating device. Fig. 4 is a sectional longitudinalelevation of the breech n1echan-,

Fig. 5 is a cross-.

ism with the breech open. section on the line a: w. of Fig. 1.

Figure of reference 1 is the frame; 2, the bolt; 3, a sliding connectionpiece to couple the bolt and handle 4, and the rod 5 connects I thebreech mechanism with the butt-plate 7 by intermediate lever 6.

The reciprocating bolt 2 carries a pin or trunnion 8 near its front end,which, projectiug into a longitudinal groove or slot 9 in the frame,serves to guide and hold the forward end of the bolt in the frame, andanother pin 10 projects from the inside of the frame into a groove orslot 11 of the bolt to guide the rear eiid thereof. The slot 11 is cutlongitudinally in the bolt to its rear, where it is carried 11 ward topermit the rear part of the bolt to fa 1 when reaching its closedposition,

"as shown in Fig. 1, so thatits shoulder 12 may drop forward of theabutment 13 in the frame,

' and thereby lock the said bolt in its closed position, and theprojecting top 14: of thebolt, overhanging the fiat sides thereof, fallson top of the inner edges of the frame to form a tight cover to itsvertical mortise.

A bolt arranged as above may be operated by any oblique force which maybe brought to bear upon it to turn its rear end from thelocking-abutment, and said force, continuing,

will move back the bolt to openthc breech and its reversal will closeit. Ishowa method of applying the oblique force described j byprojecting an arm 15 downward from thefo'rward end of the bolt andengaging tho'lower end of the said arm by a reciprocating rod or slidingpiece 3, to which is connected a handle to impart a reciprocatingmovement thereto. The backward movement of the piece3 turns the rear endof the bolt upward to' disengage its locking-shoulder, the pin 8 servingas a trunnion or fulcrum to hold theforward end of the bolt down, andthen forces back and forward into the slot 11, so that when the rear ofthe bolt rises itraises the face oflsaid The rear of the firing-pin hasincline against the pin 10 (which is iixedin the frame) to cam and startback the firing pin by the unlocking movement of the bolt.

The connectingslide 3 is guided rearward by the operating-handle and a.pin 17,- which enters a longitudinal groove 18 inside the frame. Anabutment, which I here show as a roller 19, is carried by the slide 3,and a projection 20 of the hammer is extended into position, as shown inFig. 1, to be engaged by the backward movement of said roller. whichthen serves as a cam to turn back the hammer from its position over theledge 21 in the rearof the bolt, so that the boltmay then be moved backto open the breech. The mortise innthe slide 3 is elongated forward ofthe bolt extension 15 to permit a slight lost motion for the aboveoperation.

. It will be seen that thenose of the hammer cannot reach the firing-pinuntil the rear of the bolt falls to its locked position, as the ledge 21obstructs the path of movement of the striking-nose of the hammer at allother times, and when the bolt isinlocked position ICO free to followback the opening breech-piece.

The side of the carrier at itsjorward part is cut away to allow therearward'inove-iiient of the raised ear 23 of the slide; but a shoulder24. is formedon the carrier to be engaged by the latter part of the rearmovement of said car 23 and be raised thereby to raise thecarrier,as-shown in Fig. 4.

A handle sliding on the small of the stock is shown'to operate this gun;but any other known form of handle may be substituted without essentialchange in this invention.

A catch 25 is hungin the operating-handle, having a point 28 to besprunginto the not b 26 in the guard-strap or any fixed part of the gunto lock the handle when the breech is closed, and thereby confine thebreech-piece in its locked position,asin'Fig. l. The catch 25 is hereshown provided with a light spring 29,"pressing the catch to turn'it inthe reverse or unlocking direction; but a stronger spring 31 turns thestarting-lever 30 (which is hungin the sliding handle) downward againstthe projecting arm 32 of the catch tospring said catch into the notch 26to lock the handle aforesaid. By this arrangement the catch may bereleased by pressing in on its projecting. arm 32 or by pressure on theprojecting finger-piece of the startingdeyer 30, as in the act ofusingsaid lever in starting open the breech, (it having a little lostmotion for this purpose of releasing the catcln) when the spring 29 willturn said catch out of the notch 26; but if the handle should be understrong backward pressure the friction of engagement of the point 28 inthe notch 26 would be too great to be overcome by the spring 29 and thecatohwould remain-in its locking position until released by other means.A starting-rod '5, connected to the sliding handle, extendsabaokward through the stock and'is engaged at its rear by one end of lever 6, whichis hung on a pivot fixed in the stock, and the telescoping butt-plate 7engages the other end of the lever 6, so that when the buttplat e movesforward relatively to'the stock it vibrates the lever to force the rod 5backward and thereby start open the breech-piece by its connectiontherewith or with the mechanism vfor moving it, and a spring 33 pressesthe butt-plate, when released, in the opposite direction.

I here show the rod 5 connected to the breeoh-movin g mechanism byhaving a shoulder 3 formed to engage the projection 27 on the catch 25above its pivot, so the first part of the backward movement ,of the rod5- Y1- brates the catch to turn its point 28 out of its locking-notch26, that the breech or handle may then be free to be moved back by thecontinued backward movement :of the rod. Another shoulder 35'is shown inFigs. 1 and 4, which on the return (forward) movement of rod 5 engagesthe point 28 of the catch to close or assist to close the breech byforce of spring 33; but where the movement of the I'Od'lS not i made sogreat as to en able itto move the whole distance necessary to open andclose the breech the rear shoulder 35 is oinittedgas in Fig. 3, and therod 5 then serves merply to unlock and start open the breech.

In Fig. 3 the peculiar features of the butt and its parts are shown. Asocket-piece 36 incloses the rear end of the stock and has an inne'rsocket 37 to enter the stock and contain the spring 33 and also receiveand guide, the cylinder 38 of the butt-plate to hold the buttplate inposition to move easily with but slight friction on the outside of thesocket-piece 36. 9o Astop,as 40,-consistingofanobliquely-pointed pin orscrew, maybe used to con fine'the catch in its locking position whenrequired. Another stop il is shown in Fig. 3' arranged to turn back andrender the butt-plate rigid when desired, when the gun may be operatedby the handle and the catch 25 turned to unlock the handle by directengagement or the lever 30 be pressed out ofcontact with the catch bythe hand that pulls back on the hanzoo die, and when the discharge thentakespla ce the recoilwill counteract the pull on the bandle, giving abackward impulse to the body of the gun so quickly that the pull on thehandle will cease for an instant, (in fact, will generally be reversed,)sothat the catch '25 can then be disengaged by spring 29. Theinterruption to the backward pull on the handle is so short as to beh-a'rd-ly noticeable, except by its effect in unlocking the handle, andr m a continued pull backward on the handle and lever unlocks and opensthe breec g To use the butt-plate mechanism, the stop 41 is turnedforward, as in Fig.3, and the gun I fired from the shoulder in the usualmanner, n5 when the recoil, forcing back the body of the gunv againstthe resistingbutt-plate, com presses the stiff spring 33 and forces thelever 6 against said plate to turn it and force back the rod 5 (whichengages the catch 25) to re- 12o lease and pullback the handle and startback the breech by its connection therewith.

1.- In a breech-loading firearm, a reciprocating breech having alocking-shoulder thereon, 1 25 a lateral projection near the front endof said breech-piece, and a groove from its rear end forward,.saidgroove being odset at its rear,

- substantially as described, in combination with a frame provided witha longitudinal 13o groove to guide the front of the breech-piece, and alateral projection extending into the piece, and an operating-handleconnected to groove in the breech-piece to guide the rear of saidbreech-piece, and an abutment in the frame against which thebreech-piece locks.

2. In a breech-loading gun, the frame having the longitudinal groove 9,a breech-piece carrying the projection 8 to move in said groove andthereby guide the front end of the breech-piece, the projection 11 inthe frame to guide the rear of the breech-piece by bearing in alongitudinal groove in said breechthe breech-piece, all in combination.

3. In a breech-loading gun, a frame open at the top, in combination witha breech-piece having a substantially longitudinal movement in saidframe and a swinging movement to lock the same, said breech-piece havingside extensions at its upper partwhich overhang the frame.

4. In a breech-loading firearm, a frame open at the top a breech-pieceguided to move Ion;

gitudinally therein, a locking-shoulder at the rear of the breech-piece,and an abutment for its engagement in the frame, a projection extendingdownward from the front of the breech-piece and below it, and aslide-piece which connects with the operating-handle and engages saidprojection, all in combination.

5. In a breech-loading firearm, a breechpiece whose rear end swingsverticallyin' one "direction to lock it. and in the reverse direc- 'tionto unlock, and a firing-pin housed in said breech-piece having aprojection on its rear with an inclined front face, in combination withafixed projection in the frame, arranged to engage the incline on thefiring-pin through an opening in the breech-piece, substantially asdescribed, to start back the firing-pin in the unlockingmovementot'thebreech-piec'e.

6. In a magazine-gun, the combination of the magazine having a spring--stop at its mouth, a reciprocating breech-operating handle and slide,and a raised ear connected to the slide and engaging .he magazine-stopto operate the'same as the slide reciprocates, substantially asdescribed.

7. In a firearm, the frame,,a breech-piece moving therein and swingingto locked position, a vibrating hammer in position to engage thebreech-piece and 1c ck the same, a breech-operating lever, and slot andabutment connections from the lever to the breechpiece, whereby a lostmotion is permitted,all combined substantially as described.

8. In a breech-loading firearm, a frame, a sliding handle, a catch tolock said handle in the frame in its breech-closing position, and alight spring engaging said catch to throw the catch out of its lockingengagement, in combination with a stronger spring arranged to throw thecatch into locking engagement by overpowering thelight spring andoutside connection with the stronger spring, by which it may becompressed to allow the light spring to release the catch. D

9. A reciprocating rod connected at ltsrear with the movable butt-plateto operate it, a reciprocating handle operatively connected to thebreech-piece, and a spring-catch to lock said handle into breech-closingposition, the rod engaging the catch to release it and engaging theoperating-handle to start open the breech by movement of the butt-plate,the specified elements in combination 1n a breech-loading firearm,substantially as described.

10. In a breech-loading firearm, a movable butt-plate, a springinterposed between the butt plate and stock, a lever hung to the stockand having an arm in position to be actuated by the butt-plate, a rodengaging the other 11. In a breech-loading firearm, a butt-plate pressedback by a spring from the butt-stock, a lever pivoted in the butt-stock,having one arm in contact with the butt-plate, a reciprocating rodengaged by the other end of said lever, a reciprocatingoperating-handle, and its locking-catch in position to be engaged bysaid rod, all combined, substantially as described, so that the recoil of/the gun backward against the resistanceof the butt-plate moves the rodre the catch and/handle and moves the handle to start open the breech.

12. In the butt of agun, a socket-piece inlosing the rear of the stockand having. the inner socket 37, the spring 33 to press back thebutt-plate, a reversing-leverpivoted in in the socket-piece, atelescoping butt-plate having the projection 38 to enter the socket 37and guide the butt-plate, and rod 5, engaged by said lever, all incombination, substantially as described.

13. In the butt of a gun, a socket-piece inclosing the rear of the stockand having the inner socket 237', the spring 33 to press back thebutt-plate, a reversing-lever pivoted in the socket-piece, and atelescoping butt-plate having the projection 38 to enter the socket 37and guide the butt-plate, and a movable stop for said butt-plate, all incombination with the rod 5, for operation substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ANDREW BURGESS.

\Vitnesses:

'1. B. .OAKLEY, Gnome F. ANDREWS.

